The fall was the worst moment of my life when I felt true despair. Osbourne’s valiant, but stupid crusade against this damned dungeon had faltered, broken by slimes of all things! As I fell into the same depths Bowie met a horrifying end in, it felt as if time slowed to a snail’s pace. I knew we should not have never taken this job from the vice guild leader! We should have turned around immediately when we lost Tidwell, the tank of our party, to those Dead Man’s Party bastards! Yet we had just had to clear it too when our job was just to steal the claim of the damned place. I do admit that I was complacent in this as well, my greed for a dungeon clear reward overtaking my sense of reason, but fucking Osbourne wanted “revenge.” Motherfucker, I am a three-foot tall halfling, I am not made for this shit! I wanted to throw a hysterical fit at him, but I knew I could not afford to waste effort for such frivolities. He would probably just scoff it off and promptly ignore me anyways.
Sandwiched between the bottom of the pit and Osbourne as we landed, the world began to spin and everything ached. Why do humans have to be so big and heavy? Rolling to the side off of me, Osbourne splayed himself across the smooth rock huffing deeply. He was exhausted and, despite how he may act and look, I knew he was hurt pretty bad. As for me, I am a defenseless healer and my whole body . Great. Might as well just be served on a silver platter to those monsters. Looking at my clerical robes, blood, goo, and dirt stained it from top to bottom. Suddenly going into a coughing fit, blood flew out of my mouth. Internal bleeding huh? I cannot even muster the energy to complain about it anymore. Digging my nails into the earth so much that they chipped, I propped myself up against the wall of the prison I found myself in. The cold rock made me shiver with the humidity not helping. I tried to cast healing magic on myself, but the pain and confusion led me to royally flub the set-up for it, leading the recoil to suffocate my soul as my mana went wild and what little was left started to flood out. I was too weak and exhausted to even attempt to try to stop the mana flow from draining my life force as a substitute for my empty holy magic reserves. “Status,” I muttered as a thin blue screen popped into reality.
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Name: Roxanne Derby
Occupation: Adventuring Healer
Age: 22
Level: 19
Status Effects
Internal Bleeding – Serious damage has occurred internally and user’s health shall deteriorate rapidly
Drained – Holy power has reached near empty, leading to the user taking soul damage as life force is used as substitute for holy magic. One must pray for several hours to replenish it.
Active Skills
Minor Healing
Calm Mind
Sooth Pain
Smite
Passive Skills
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Follower of the Divine – May cultivate holy magic
Titles
Exile of the Church
Discoverer of Dungeon 6675636b
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What do I do? What can I do? I am just a fallen apprentice cleric, kicked out of the church for embezzlement of church funds. I could feel that my holy might was waning as my soul started to fade. Fucking status, do you think I have several hours to spare…This was it… The end of the line no matter what I wanted to do about it. Looking above, I could see slimes waiting on the crest of the edge above, almost taunting me.
Closing my eyes to accept my fate, I forcefully used up all my life force for a calm mind. I would rather die peacefully than be eaten alive. But the end I sought did not seem to come. Daring to reopen my eyes, I saw my life on a screen before me in a void. My birth as a bastard child of a nobleman’s affair with a maid. “Volunteering” to join the church at five years of age under the “advice” of my father to get his little walking scandal out of his life. The excitement of being made the apprentice of an experienced cleric, only to be used as a grunt for his shady dealings. I had to witness and survive against the worst dregs of society, ruthless crime lords, aristocratic deviants, and corrupt government officials. So what if I skimmed a little off the top off of church funds for my work? I want to get paid! I couldn't even buy an apple then since the church only pays in thoughts and prayers. Eventually when the snake got caught, the man took me down with him by exposing my embezzlement in a last, vindictive struggle before being locked up. Thankfully, due to my youth and the mitigating factors, I only got exiled but the truth stood, I was at the end of the road. I only survived by joining the Blue Sky Guild, the guild leader seeing something in me, but now I could only think of it as a mistake. I met Osbourne, Bowie, and Tidwell, joining their party as we seemed to get along well enough. For a year we went on, with countless near misses and stunning victories. They were the family I never had, but now only half was left… no just one is left, Osbourne… please live. You’re a goddamn headache but… do not die.
Then the visions ceased, the world was black. There was nothing except for myself. I only then realized I was floating, unable to feel the chillness of the earth that supported my body. “Mortal, do you want to… change fate,” a soft, whispering voice asked in my left ear. Snapping my head left in alarm, I saw nothing but the disembodied voice continued, “You were… unfairly treated in life… you are a doll that never truly lived… the plaything of others… don’t you want to… take what you deserve… and truly live?” I glared in the general direction of… whatever it was… in suspicion. I was no naive little chick, I knew there was no such thing as free meals. “W-what’s your e-end? What d-do you w-want?” I spoke, attempting to project confidence but failing as an overwhelming feeling of dread washed over me. An eye flicked open in the darkness, several magnitudes larger than me, almost as large as a whole castle. My eyes turned away unconsciously, my gut telling me not to look at it too long. Multiple sets of horrific cackling surrounded me, assaulting my ears. As the storm of laughter subsided, it responded with glee, “I want you to make things… interesting. Things are getting a little… too cozy.” I shivered in instinctual fear at every word. “But now I shall ask you again… do you want to live? To reclaim the life… you never had. I just need you to… sign this.”
A piece of parchment appeared before me, looking to be made of some kind of leather, along with a quill filled with what seemed to be black ink. I did not recognize the lettering nor the language, yet I could read the contract nonetheless. Looking over the surprisingly mundane document it simply read:
Contractor Roxanne Derby shall be granted: “Revival,” “Blessing of the Gods” passive skill, and “Rapid Regeneration” passive skill blessing. in exchange for satisfying the sponsor’s boredom. If at any time, the sponsor is unsatisfied, the contract may be nullified by the sponsor and the contractor will have their blessings removed.
It was short, but that was why it was so eerie. What could this creature of darkness be to just revive someone for funnies? And if it was displeased, it could just undo the deal, taking my life upon the reversal of the “revival” blessing. I suppressed the thought, not wanting to go mad thinking about it too much. But… I couldn’t give up this opportunity… not only for myself… but for Osbourne too, the last of my family.
Picking up the quill, I signed my name as the eye watched with excitement.